All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[BeastieRunner]

The Edward R. Murrow award goes to Tami. Hands down.

I sometimes think Tami is a newsie.

[Malvolio]

It's weird that a certain portion of our population who think they have a right to judge others as being anti-police voted for the party that enthusiastically pushes for concealed carry laws, and fewer laws limiting gun ownership thereby endangering police officers.

And the reality is that no one "accepts" attacks on police. What, just because there aren't protests against it? We don't need protests when the attackers are arrested and prosecuted. Maybe JBats wants to see people holding signs saying, "There's justice. There's peace."

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Powerful Earthquake Kills Hundreds In Central Mexico

Hundreds of volunteers and rescue workers have been searching through rubble for survivors. Then there's this coming weather horror....

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Still A Category 5, Maria Barrels Toward Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is expecting a storm unlike anything else in “modern history,” its governor said.

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The Sponsors Of Obamacare Repeal Are Trying To Fool America — And Fellow Republicans

Here’s what they’re not telling you, or their colleagues, about the bill. Meanwhile....

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Bipartisan Group Of Governors Speaks Out Against Latest Obamacare Repeal Attempt

“Legislation should receive consideration under regular order, including hearings in health committees and input from the appropriate health-related parties,” reads the letter. Meanwhile....

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GOP Senators Are Pushing Lisa Murkowski For A Hasty Yes On Obamacare Repeal

Without the Alaska senator, the clock may run out on their latest bill. Stand strong, Rep. Murkowski and tell Turtle Boy to shove that bill where the sun don't shine!

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[worstblogever]

Gotta hand it to Kimmel--he really came out and did the right thing. He called out Cassidy on his BS. I just can't believe that one of the terms I hear bandied about regarding Graham is "moderate". There are only two moderate Republicans and their names are Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. John McCain is just a generally sensible conservative. The others? They're too concerned with getting a win in under the wire to worry about what will happen to their constituents. When the bill blows a hole in the insurance market, they'll just blame the ACA and most of their supporters will probably believe it.

Graham's words are moderate. His votes are hardline conservative.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, as well as 2016, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of North Carolina Congresswoman Renee Ellmers, who used a unique strategy for reaching Congress... she rode the 2010 Tea Party Wave on the strength of her campaigning hard against the “Ground Zero Mosque” in New York City, and while spewing out that sort of bigoted nonsense, accused Anderson Cooper of being anti-religion for questioning her pro-Christian/anti-Muslim worldview. After barely winning her first term, North Carolina’s 2nd District was gerrymandered after redistricting to be far more conservative, and keep her in office. During her second term, she voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown, and drew headlines for saying she was keeping her Congressional salary, saying, “I need my paycheck.” She’s also argued for men getting to pay less for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act because “they won’t be using the maternity leave”, tried spinning the GOP’s “War on Women” by saying the real war was being pulled off with the ACA, and in July 2014, advised her fellow Republicans that the only way they, as a party, would win over female voters in elections was to “bring policy down to a woman’s level”. After Ellmers' bailed on the harsh anti-choice bill, HR 7, because was not thrilled with the language about the definition of rape in the bill and angered the anti-abortion movement, Ellmers fell from grace with the anti-choice movement so fast, they were demanding she be left off the GOP's special committee to investigate Planned Parenthood. Between that, and rumors of an affair began to swirl involving Ellmers, and California Congressman Kevin McCarthy, she was damaged enough to finish third in the GOP Primary in 2016. She is now mercifully out of office, so we'll retire her CSGOPOTD profile at time and go ahead and take a look at a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 606-20, since this was established in July 2014.)


Mark Holbrook

Welcome to the 606th original profile presented by “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’re going to be talking about Mark Holbrook, who ran for Congress in 2016, attempting to win office in Maine's 1st Congressional District and pulling an upset in the GOP Primary by all of 58 votes. He thus advanced to attempt to unseat Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, but losing in that effort with only 42% of the vote. That is ironically an improvement upon his performance in the 2014 elections, when he only got 28% of the vote in an attempt to get into the Maine state legislature, and we're not sure how his bizarre football-themed ad could have helped elevate his profile. Especially when you consider Maine's 1st District is pretty far away from Foxboro, Massachusetts, where the nearest NFL team plays. Well, Holbrook's TV ads were also centered around portraying himself as an "anti-establishment" candidate, which got him as far as it did, adding in a little irrational criticism of Barack Obama, and winning over GOP voters by supporting Donald Trump's insane idea for a border wall. Which, if there's a state that shouldn't be worried about folks coming across the U.S./Mexico border on foot, you'd think it would be Maine, right? Well, Holbrook was actually claiming he was harder to the right on immigration than even Donald Trump, if you can believe that.

Looking at Holbrook's issue stances, it's noteworthy that under his stance on abortion, he gripes about "selling baby parts" which tells you he still believes in the hoax perpetrated by the Center for Medical Progress. But on the majority of issues, Holbrook's stances are vague, or unspecified. He was contemplating running for Senate, but has again announced he was mounting a challenge to Rep. Pingree. Frankly, we're starting to wish that he would keep his opinions to himself permanently, and just go away.

In July of 2017, Holbrook decided he would write an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald where he gave his humble thoughts that "fear-mongering by liberals on ACA repeal incites hostility and violence". How dare you tell people that the Republican plan to repeal the ACA would leave 23 million people without insurance and tens of thousands more people would die ANNUALLY as a result! Those facts provided by the Congressional Budget Office and medical organizations nationwide are just "fear-mongering"...

This was only a slightly less inflammatory quote than seeing Mark Holbrook actually echo the disgusting comments by Donald Trump after white supremacists and Neo-Nazis carried out a terror attack and blamed "both sides" for the violence, saying they were "both sides of the same hate-filled coin". Y'know, the same way the people who stormed the beaches of Normandy to fight the Nazis were equally to blame, right?

If there's any justice left in this world, Mark Holbrook is going to get obliterated at the polls by Chellie Pingree in a little over a year from now. We'll keep tabs on him until them, because we're expecting more stupidity from him between now and Election Day 2018.

[TheInvisibleMan]

I have friends in Portland, and the general feeling is that Holbrook is going to get tossed like last months garbage

[worstblogever]

I have friends in Portland, and the general feeling is that Holbrook is going to get tossed like last months garbage

That's the best thing I've read all morning.

[TheInvisibleMan]

That's the best thing I've read all morning.

but BUUUUUUT Maine tends to lean towards close minded racist s**theadedness

look at Paul LePage

[Tami]

Here is the real Pizzagate

Hillary Clinton Secretly Supported ‘Pizzagate’ Restaurant After Incident

Monday evening, during the first stop of Clinton’s book tour for her new campaign memoir, What Happened, the evening’s host, Lissa Muscatine, co-owner of the popular Washington bookstore Politics and Prose, told the crowd that Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, had purchased a number of pizzas from Comet Ping Pong and sent them to a local after-school literacy program.

“I told you what was going on and you responded instantly and were so supportive,” recalled Muscatine, whose bookstore is located just down the street from the pizza place. “A few days after that, you and your husband said, ‘What can we do to support Comet?’”

The conspiracy theory, one of the more outlandish falsehoods that gained traction in an already wild election season, emerged from a misreading of a cache of leaked emails from Podesta published by the group WikiLeaks.

“This is a terrible example of what can be done by people who are malicious, unacquainted with the truth and pursuing their own agendas,” Clinton said of the shooting.

“I can’t tell you how important it was ... that you and President Clinton were there for us,” Muscatine told Clinton. “I’ve never had a chance to thank you publicly.”

Clinton did manage to find some humor in the incident.

“In one of the emails, John Podesta is talking about pizza. He’s Italian and Greek, so you know,” Clinton recalled, soliciting laughter from Muscatine and the nearly 2,000 people gathered for the book event at the Warner Theatre in downtown Washington.

[TheInvisibleMan]

I never understood the whole 'Pizzagate' thing

it just sounds ludicrous

first time I heard it about, I thought it was a joke

[Tami]

I never understood the whole 'Pizzagate' thing

it just sounds ludicrous

first time I heard it about, I thought it was a joke

It is a joke, except to the ignorant who took it seriously enough so that one decided to shoot up the restaurant.

[Iron Maiden]

Pardon me, but what the flying fuck is courageous and forthright about a head of state issuing a threat to destroy another country? Give me a break!

And Trump's administration won't hassle Israel about building more settlements on the West Bank

[Iron Maiden]

Not entirely surprising. Obama had some pretty serious disagreements with Netanyahu while he was president. Netanyahu is incredibly right-wing and has a middling popularity within his own country. The kind of "big man" talk that Trump brings to the table is probably something that resonates well with a guy that doesn't seem particularly concerned with fighting international law violations with international law violations.



Gotta hand it to Kimmel--he really came out and did the right thing. He called out Cassidy on his BS. I just can't believe that one of the terms I hear bandied about regarding Graham is "moderate". There are only two moderate Republicans and their names are Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. John McCain is just a generally sensible conservative. The others? They're too concerned with getting a win in under the wire to worry about what will happen to their constituents. When the bill blows a hole in the insurance market, they'll just blame the ACA and most of their supporters will probably believe it.

Part of the problem is that comics like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher are better at getting out the Democrats message than the Democrats themselves. At least Bernie does the talk show rounds. I don't know....maybe Obama can start stumping for the party.

[mojotastic]

It is a joke, except to the ignorant who took it seriously enough so that one decided to shoot up the restaurant.

You can thanks 4chan for spreading that joke to the mainstream.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Part of the problem is that comics like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher are better at getting out the Democrats message than the Democrats themselves. At least Bernie does the talk show rounds. I don't know....maybe Obama can start stumping for the party.

and not inviting Sean Spicer to the Emmys

forgiveness is overrated, especially now

s**t like that is how Trump is going to get reelected